Lamenting the normalisation of Botox

My January piece for Discordia, Lamenting the normalisation of Botox, was written in frustration after I noted that positive stories on Botox were increasing in incidence in the mainstream media.
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Lamenting the normalisation of Botox

January 2013

Of late, I’ve noticed that Botox has become heavily embedded into the cultural consciousness. So much so, that mention of it in print and online publications is not only prolific, but very often casual in tone.

Articles about Botox are stunningly prevalent, with beauty editors fawning over its apparent age-reversing properties, and even health publications devoting many inches of copy to extolling its “miracle” effects. The web is brimming with personal experience stories on blogs and big title women’s magazines, lauding the substance’s apparent benefits for restoring youth.

Worryingly, it appears to me that the use of Botox for “age management” has become normalised. Evidently, there is now little stigma attached to admitting that you have had it done. But, frighteningly, there is a stigma attached to ageing - particularly for women - and a sinister stigma associated with not “managing” it.

I recently came across a short round-up of 2012’s notable beauty trends in SMH. Although the title, “A year of beauty: best and worst of 2012”, promised a fairly mundane piece of writing, I was absolutely struck by one of its paragraphs:

“More women are acknowledging that they have had Botox treatment outside sitcom world, albeit strictly to one another. But, it's a start when you consider that any woman over 30 worth her hard-earned disposable income has had it done” (my emphasis).

The paragraph sits incongruously in a section of the list labelled “Sisterhood”. Here, the “sisterhood” refers to a peculiar concept – the apparent solidarity signified by women’s admission to each other of having Botox done. I have to confess that when I think of the term sisterhood, and what it represents for me, cosmetic surgery revelations don’t immediately spring to mind.

Happily, the author was lambasted for her statement in the comments section. The responses reflected many of my own thoughts – I am over 30 and am not considering Botox, I have more pressing things to spend my “hard-earned” income on, and I don’t view Botox as a necessity, as the article seems to imply it is.

At its core, the comment is simultaneously ageist and elitist. There is the disturbing inference that Botox is not negotiable for women over 30 (that magic age where we are subjected to age-related fear-mongering, and told we’ll be rendered invisible to the male gaze unless we take measures to restore our youth).

It also smacks of privilege: we are told that Botox is the domain of an exclusive bunch.  Although it is clear that Botox isn’t a cheap habit to maintain, the author’s implication is an unsettling one indeed. Apparently, those women on the more comfortable side of the economic spectrum are obliged to get it done, and those without a disposable income to play with are presumably not “worth” it.

Botox is relentlessly touted as a miracle “cure” for wrinkles, one of the physical signs of ageing. Rather than simply a natural consequence of life, ageing is increasingly being presented as a medical affliction which needs to be managed. The popular discourse currently surrounding women and ageing suggests that we need to be vigilant and pull out all stops to slow the process down.

I almost couldn’t conceal my shock when I recently overheard part of a conversation in a shopping centre. One young woman (mid to late 20s, at a guess) announced to her friend, “Well, as soon as I get some Botox injected into this face, I’ll be happy”.

The comment was quite disturbing in its nonchalance. But her comment undoubtedly echoes thousands that occur each day between women, who feel constant pressure to look like their youthful former selves.

I am concerned about the insidious nature with which Botox has infiltrated the cultural consciousness. I’ve noticed that articles frequently emphasise the apparent benefits of the injections, while side effects or potential risks are often sidelined. A nuanced social and cultural analysis of the issue is even rarer – at least in the mainstream media.

Don’t get me wrong: I do not begrudge individual women who have made a decision to have Botox. Rather, I resent the culture which positions Botox as a necessity for women of a certain age, and where - correspondingly - the notion of “choice” is distorted.

I can understand why women opt to have Botox. I am definitely not immune to the pressures to maintain a youthful aesthetic: it permeates our society in many forms and can be difficult to elude. It is likely that to an extent, aside from these immense external pressures, humans have a natural fear of ageing and looking older. But my issue is with a system which sanctions and profits from this fear.

She said what?! Why feminism is still relevant

My December piece for Discordia, She said what?! Why feminism is still relevant, was written in response to comments by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, who had claimed "In my generation we don't need to be feminist".
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She said what?! Why feminism is still relevant

December 2012

A collective gasp resounded across social media last week, after former French “first lady” Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was quoted as saying "In my generation we don't need to be feminist".

A torrent of witty and impassioned comments descended. French senator Laurence Rossignol added her voice, tweeting: "For as long as I get asked if I am the senator's assistant, the coming generation will need feminism".

While Bruni-Sarkozy’s remark may be viewed as ill-advised and clumsily delivered, it wasn’t so easy for women to merely brush it aside. On an international scale, Bruni-Sarkozy is a prominent woman of influence. What many no doubt found problematic was that this person 

of wealth and advantage was attempting to speak for them – an entire generation of women.

While Bruni-Sarkozy herself concedes (on her website) that “I was fortunate to be born into a privileged family”, the 44-year-old seems somewhat blind to her privilege, if not a little conflicted by it. In her recent remarks to Vogue which ignited the Twittersphere, she also claimed “I am a true bourgeoise”. But regarding life as the president’s wife and her husband’s exit from office, she said "It was a beautiful adventure, but today I just want to go back to being a citizen like any other".

Bruni-Sarkozy isn’t a typical French citizen, or woman. Born into an affluent family in Italy, she was heiress to her grandfather’s tyre empire and her family lived in a state of luxury. Bruni-Sarkozy was given access to the best schools in Europe, attending boarding school in Switzerland and university in Paris. The wife of former French president Nicholas Sarkozy, Bruni-Sarkozy is a white woman of high social standing.

In the 1990s, Bruni-Sarkozy was a high-fashion model, walking for many of the top couture houses. She was listed among the 20 highest paid models in 1998. Catapulted to a lucrative international modelling career in her late teens, Bruni-Sarkozy has never known the pain of student loans, the week to week struggle of paying rent on a meagre income, nor the challenges of raising and feeding a family on an average wage.  

  

Additionally, her husband has a significant personal fortune, and was also born into vast wealth.

In Bruni-Sarkozy’s adopted country of France, poverty is on the rise. In 2011 it was reported that 13.5% of the population live under the poverty threshold.

A recent report by charity Secours Catholique revealed that women and immigrants were the hardest hit groups in France in the wake of the financial crisis. Women comprise 57% of those seeking assistance from the charity, up 10% from a decade ago.  

Approximately 17% of women in the 27 EU countries are living in poverty. European women earn, on average, 14-17% less than men. The European Social Watch Report 2010 claimed that “across a range of indicators in the labour market and in social protection, the structural causes of poverty have a disproportionate impact on women”.

Globally, women constitute 70% of the world’s poorest people. They hold only 10% of the world’s wealth and own 1% of the world’s land. 

To her credit, Bruni-Sarkozy does undertake some philanthropic work and she also supports gay marriage, along with several other socially progressive issues.  

However, in the stately lunch meetings with high profile figures, to discuss issues such as literacy, poverty and female mortality, she can maintain a detachment from the reality of the issues tabled. These talks are usually hosted in luxury locations. Arriving well fed and immaculately dressed, Bruni-Sarkozy can slip back into her extravagant lifestyle at the conclusion of the event.

It can be easy to see why Bruni-Sarkozy has been able to overlook feminism. She was born into wealth; consequently she has not confronted the challenges that many other women of her generation have, in their pursuit of education and raising a family in a tough economic climate. It is hard to overstate the level of freedom that financial independence can afford.

For many years Bruni-Sarkozy worked in an industry which paid her exorbitant sums of money for her physical appearance. At its very core, the fashion industry is anti-feminist. Models are prized for their (apparently fleeting) youthful beauty, and are forced to adhere to near impossible standards in order to be successful. This industry, which relentlessly manufactures the rigorous incarnation of the “ideal woman”, bankrolled Bruni-Sarkozy’s lavish lifestyle for years.   

Bruni-Sarkozy is not an ideal spokesperson for her generation of women, as it appears that the complexities of their lives have soared high above her head. Globally, she is one of a select few that revels in the top income bracket, while many women of her generation languish firmly at subsistence level.  

If she is truly to comprehend poverty, a cause for which she campaigns, then she must understand how structural economic conditions and traditions often serve to disadvantage women – whether in Europe or poverty-plagued developing countries.  

Maybe then she will realise that feminism is still germane for the women of her generation, and also for the girls and young women of today.

Postscript: Carla Bruni-Sarkozy issued an apology for her recent remarks on feminism, claiming that the statement “poorly translates my thoughts”, and saying of feminists "I admire their bravery a lot, but I have chosen to commit myself elsewhere".